September 17, 2014

9/17/2014

Let the Packing Begin!

Here we are again, mid-week. It's been a pretty packed week for me! How about yourself?

Speaking of packed, I'm going to start packing today for New Mexico - woo hoo! I started laying out my clothes along with Gianna & Kelsey's. I will attempt to color coordinate us so our photographs look balanced.

According to Trip Advisor, the temps in New Mexico in early October range with a high of 64 degrees F to a low of 41 degrees F. So, I'm thinking our best bet is pants all the way. For me, jeans; for the girls, leggings, which will give them the most comfort.

As far as shoes go - for the kids, they will only bring sneakers and a pair of flip flops for the pool while we are in Albuquerque. (can't forget those swim suits!) As for me, I'll be bringing sneakers and a pair of hiking shoes I recently got while walking through the mall - they caught my eye in the store window.

MY NEW SHOES FOR MY NEW MEXICO ROAD TRIP

We'll do our usual carry-ons with toiletries, neck pillows and laptops. This trip will be alittle more hecktic because we were not able to get direct flights so we will have one connection. But compared to the long European flights, I'm sure it will feel like a breeze to the girls.

As I'm getting more and more pumped for this trip, I found this list of 20 trivia facts about New Mexico. Thought I would share with you:

1) The nickname of New Mexico is "The Land of Enchantment". It is also known as The Spanish State and the Colorful State.

2) Prior to gaining statehood, NM was called as the New Mexico Territory. It was admitted to the Union on January 6, 1912 as the 47th state of the U.S.

3) The capital city of NM is Santa Fe and the largest city is Albuquerque.

4) New Mexico is bordered by Oklahoma, Colorado, Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

5) The official motto is "It grows as it goes".

6) The official flower is the Yucca.

7) The official gemstone is the Turquoise.

8) Hatch is nicknamed as the "Green Chilli Capital of the World".

9) The most extensive river in the state is the Rio Grande and it covers the whole length of New Mexico.

10) Santa Fe is famous for being the capital city with the highest altitude. It is situated at an elevation of 7,000 feet.

11) The official reptile is the Whiptail Lizard.

12) Famous natives of the state of New Mexico include Judy Blume, Bill Daily, Greer Garson, John Denver, Demi Moore, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jim Morrison.

13) Albuquerque is famous for hosting the biggest hot air balloon fair in the world.

14) The official bird is the Greater Roadrunner.

15) Major industries of the state include manufacturing and tourism.

16) The official anthem is the "O Fair New Mexico".

17) New Mexico is one of the Four Corner States of the U.S. The other three states are Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

18) With an elevation of 13,161 feet, the Wheeler Peak is the tallest point in New Mexico.

19) The official mammal is the Black Bear and the official fish is the Cutthroat Trout.

20) In 1863, the frontiers of contemporary New Mexico were sketched by the Congress. Nevertheless, it was not incorporated into the United States until 1912.

I'm pretty sure these facts will come in handy to Gianna for her New Mexico State project for Social Studies this year. After Tanya found out about this school assignment, she suggested we visit the Capitol while we are visiting Santa Fe. Check out this link all about the "Roundhouse" - Santa Fe's Capitol Building - it is the only round capitol building in the country!

Dream a new dream today - see you tomorrow for Throwback Thursday!!
-E

Baby You're a Firework!

Hi there! It's Wednesday AKA 'Humpday', how y'all doin'? (I luv that my laptop was refusing to allow me to type doin' - it took me at least half a dozen times of auto-correct changing it to 'coin'! LMAO)

We are getting so amped about the upcoming trip!! It's gonna be so much fun! Been doing lots of detail research, and also filling in those extra days on our road trip, such as:

Finding out the best time of day to see White Sands National Monument - Sunrise or Sunset.

This was very helpful, as I had to actually change one of our reservations for the night prior. We were originally booked in Carlsbad, NM, since we will be visiting Carlsbad National Park earlier that day & now I've decided that we will stay in Alamogordo, NM instead. With Alamogordo being the nearest town to White Sands NM, it'll be much easier to arrive in time for some awesome sunrise shots!

I'm not starting to pack quite yet, but I did begin picking up some food staples/snacks for the trip. I am so excited that Elisa is doing color-coordinated packing! I can't wait to see the pictures of what she packs, so that hopefully we can all strive to coordinate and make the pictures on this Cousins Trip look smashing!!

BTW - I just luv Elisa's new boots - aren't they just adorable! Cute. Cute. Cute!

The trivia list that Elisa posted today is also quite informative! So cool that Gianna is doing a report on New Mexico - her report is gonna be th'BOMB!

Here is a little bit more for Gianna to add onto the trivia list.

Which can be added to:
3) - Santa Fe is the longest serving capital in the United States. Capital since 1610 (with having El Paso del Norte serving as the capital of the Santa Fe de Nuevo México colony-in-exile during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680–1692.)

And a little funny regarding:
17) In 2010, I took a road trip with Dominic and my friend Jeff, that included NM/CO/AZ/UT, so of course we had to go to see the Four Corners...

And it was CLOSED!
We were each dumbfounded - how do you close Four Corners?!
Well, about 2 years later again on a road trip, this time it was for a ski trip and our destination was Telluride, CO.
Dominic didn't happen to come, but Dave B. & Jeff were there with me and we got to see the only place in the United States where four states intersect at one point: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

The monument is located on the Colorado Plateau west of U.S. Highway 160, approximately 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Cortez, Colorado. Note that the location is very remote - which I wasn't particularly expecting! LOL

And finally for today, we are going to the Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour at the Honda Center! I bought the tickets months ago and surprised the kids with them. I got half of the excitement that I was expecting. But then it seems like both kids totally forgot about it altogether and when I reminded them a few days ago, they were both much more excited...especially Cosette!

Funny thing is that when I took Cosette to see Taylor Swift back in 2010, Katy Perry was there had come on to sing as a guest during the concert! Another coincidence was that my friend (who I mentioned was currently in town) was working on the Taylor Swift concert and now he is working on the Katy Perry concert!